Photography Competition Captures Urban Life In Britain

The words 'student' and 'photography' generally conjures images of the painfully young and beautiful, baked in fluorescent face paint, grinning at each through a haze of larger and disco lights.

But these award-winning student snaps are far from your usual Facebook fare. Instead they're the handiwork of the finalists in a competition that forms part of the current London Festival of Photography, that invited anyone studying in the UK to go out and capture 'street life'.

The result is a series of beguiling shots of British streets in moments both loud and quiet, from revelers embracing on nights out to scrawny, solitary street foxes peering out of gardens.

Out of the 300 entrants, Giulia Mangione, Matthew Taylor, Heather Shuker, Felix Davey and Paul Walsh were the five talented students whose photographs of urban life made the grade - while Jake Burge, a 30-year-old from Hereford, claimed the top prize of £1,000.

"Winning this award has been a bit of surprise, as my work is not the traditional style of street photography," he said.

"Now I need to get some more film and continue snapping...".

Below is a selection of the shortlisted images - which is your favourite?